Yin and Yang
by Dixie Dewdrop
Summary: Tony's strength of character influences his responses, no matter what scenario unfolds.  He finds himself not only protecting Abby, but shielding a group of strangers, as well.  This is part of my Here and Now series.
1. Dark

Dark

In a milli second the oxygen in the air actually swooshed, as though the tab had been yanked on a vacuum sealed canister.

Tony's head shot up as he whirled around in his seat to assess the transformation. Two men, shrouded in black hoodies and black face masks, had burst through the main doors.

The fork clattered to his plate and Abby, in the process of swallowing a mouthful of chocolate milkshake, scowled as Tony's glass of Coke sloshed onto the table. The cola liquid trickled towards the floor in an erratic path, and she pulled her chair sideways to avoid it.

The events unfolded quickly. Responding instantaneously, Tony ascertained that he and Abby, as well as the employees and customers of the diner, teetered on the brink of losing their lives at the hands of the gun toting thugs.

He defaulted to his professional persona and reacted decisively, swiveling to Abby and whispering the order, "Get under the table right now, Baby Girl, and stay there until I tell you it is safe."

Abby's eyes reflected her terror and she glanced at the long checked tablecloth. It would provide a shelter, a sanctuary beneath their table which would shield her from the danger confronting them. Instead of obeying, however, she whimpered, "Tony, I won't leave you…"

He cut her off abruptly and grabbed her arm, shoving her quickly down as he hissed, "Do what I say, and stay under the table. Keep yourself hidden behind the cloth. Got it?"

She nodded her head forcefully, her pigtails shaking.

"Call Gibbs on your cell immediately and give him the lowdown. Tell him I have visual on two armed perps, then call 911 and leave the phone line open. Understand?"

He roughly pushed her out of her seat, placed one hand atop her head, then leaned over her to whisper. "I need you safe, Baby Girl!"

That galvanized her and she disappeared under their table as ordered. Tony conducted a quick sit rep and cursed under his breath. His service weapon lay safely locked in his desk drawer at NCIS, where he had left it just a couple of hours before.

That meant he would be on the defense against two armed criminals.

Glancing around quickly, to see if he could spot a potential ally, his stomach lurched at the mix of patrons in the crowd. His fellow diners would not be able to provide backup for him. Whatever battle lay ahead would rest entirely on his own shoulders.

Tony's heart pounded as thrusts of adrenaline intensified his reaction. He and Abby had gone straight from the agency to eat supper here, at a restaurant they loved. The two planned to catch a seven o'clock movie before heading home for the night. Gibbs had declined to join them, insisting that he needed a break from them, insisting they had irritated him the entire workday.

Tony shook his head. Five minutes later he and Abby would have already paid the check and left the restaurant. Now they joined the rest of the eatery's diners as sitting ducks.

Tony felt Abby settle onto the floor, her back against his right leg. Getting her out of sight under the table afforded him a modicum of relief. He wanted her safe. Hurriedly he rearranged the dishes before him to make it appear that only a single customer belonged at the table.

The attack obviously resulted from some planning ahead of time, quite a premeditation. One of the men possessed a wiry, lean build, and turned to snap the lock to the establishment's front door, then stood guard, shouting obscenities and waving his gun threateningly. His confederate, built like a professional wrestler, screamed commands for everyone to move to the section of the restaurant where Tony and Abby had their seats.

The cafeteria had already erupted into pandemonium. The establishment's clientele realized the two figures swinging shotguns held the power to end their lives and had not visited the place to order hamburgers.

Tony studied the movements of the two from a federal officer's point of view, recognizing and then processing their yin and yang working relationship.

The panicked patrons, hurrying to follow instructions, jogged en masse and collapsed trembling into booths and chairs.

Unmoving in his seat, Tony furtively assessed his fellow hostages as they fell into seats around him. He sized up the three males, one a teenager and the other two senior citizens. Then he counted one elderly woman and two additional females of yuppie age, roughly in their early thirties. Further, the teenaged male clutched a toddler boy in his arms, and a little girl around six clung to the hand of the older woman.

The fact that children, innocent babies, witnessed the takeover enraged the NCIS agent.

The terrified expressions of those children galvanized Tony into focusing his thoughts. He murmured a quick prayer that Abby would stay protected and kept from harm, hidden from view at his feet.

If she could just get through to Boss, Tony's Calvary would jump into action and appear.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and made quick decisions about his next moves, pushing back in his seat in preparation to act.

Before he could do anything, though, a confrontation blew up between one of the elderly gentlemen and the offender at the front door brandishing the shotgun. Tony regarded the customer, who appeared to be in his late seventies and shuffled cautiously as he walked. Obviously, the gentleman had not moved quickly enough to suit the thug, who pointed the shotgun towards him and ordered, "Move it, old man!"

The man turned and nodded, obviously terrified, and then placed his cane back down on the tile and resumed his measured steps to join the others. He had not gained more than a yard when a shot exploded and his body jerked as though electrocuted. At the same instant, his head exploded.

A chorus of terrified screams erupted from the horrified witnesses, and the children scrambled frantically into positions where they could hide their eyes.

Infuriated, the second thug whirled around to confront his partner.

"What do you think you're doing? You're going to get the cops on us before we get a cent!" A vein midway in his forehead pulsed with his anger. "I told you, Man, I have made my last trip to prison!"

Tony digested the comment. That solved the mystery of whether the two were career

criminals, or not.

"This time there won't be any getting out for good behavior, either, for me or for you!"

"Shut up!" responded the other. "You shut up and do what you're supposed to be doing! What's going to get us back into prison is your bleeding heart! You worry about keeping them corralled together while I get the cash. That old man was costing us time."

Loud sobbing caught his attention and he pointed at one of the women. She had a hand covering her mouth, but still, her sobs escaped. "Either you shut up or you will join the dead man. Got it?"

The unlucky woman clapped her other hand atop the one over her mouth to stifle the noise, but tears continued to cascade down her face.

The toddler and little girl had cried so hard already that they were forced to catch their breaths in frantic gulps, their little chests heaving.

Deciding that his partner made sense and that they needed to grab the money and get out, the gunman guarding the customers yelled out, "Which one's the manager here?"

One of the young women held up her hand without hesitation.

She did not speak, but looked steadily at the assailant. Tony watched her carefully, thinking her composure might help diffuse the volatile situation. A young woman in her early thirties, she had one of those peaches and cream complexions and a sweet, girl next door face.

He willed her to stay focused and calm so as not to enrage their captors any more.

"Get over here, then!" ordered the man, and she got up, her posture ramrod straight, and slowly and deliberately made her way to him.

With his right hand locked onto the shotgun, the assailant took his left, yanked her by her blouse, and shoved her towards his buddy. "Get that cash register open and then get back there to the office and empty the safe. Don't say you don't know where it is. It's in the back room. You have…." He glanced over at the wall clock. "You have five minutes to get that accomplished or one of your customers goes to Heaven. Got it?"

Tony made a mental note that the man knew the safe's whereabouts. More than likely, he had worked at the diner prior to the current manager's tenure.

The woman nodded at the command, acknowledging the threat, and moved carefully to the main register.

A large yellow smiley face on the back of the register proclaimed, "We love our visitors!" Tony shook his head at the irony.

The lanky man left his post at the door and joined her, barking curses and demands so forcefully that his spit sprayed the machine's keys. She appeared to ignore him, but worked on anyway, methodically filling a take out container with the cash.

Once the till emptied, they moved to the back to access the safe's money.

Meanwhile, stalking the perimeter of the hostage area, the accomplice swung his shotgun nervously back and forth at the group. Focusing upon the adolescent standing against the wall with his baby, the criminal shrieked, "Get in a chair, fool!"

The teen boy bent to set the toddler down and the captor went berserk, aimed the gun at the young man, and fired. Father and son slumped down to the blood curdling screams of the others.

The man seemed shocked at the response to his shot and for a moment, stood frozen.


	2. Light

Light

Sensing the confusion, Tony seized the opportunity and stood up, then moved decisively towards the two victims.

"Get back where you were!" the man screamed shrilly, brandishing the gun towards him.

Tony stopped at once, but then gestured to the floor where a stream of blood began pooling, "Man, let me get the baby out from under him, okay?"

The crazed gunman eyed him a few seconds, but finally nodded agreement.

Tony moved with a deliberate pace and bent over the dead young man. Turning the teen and raising him slightly, he grabbed the shrieking toddler. Pulling the baby out, he stood and then walked with the little victim towards the horrified group of onlookers.

The young woman motioned, then opened her arms, and he thrust the toddler to her. She scooted back to the group of hostages and crouched protectively over the child. They closed ranks.

Tony regarded the murderer with a raised eyebrow and inclined his head towards the victim. "Want me to get his wallet for you?"

The man reacted impatiently, yelling out with sarcasm, "What do you think?"

He moved a couple of feet closer to watch as Tony began searching the teen's pockets.

When Tony ran his hand down the leg of his own pants the criminal went ballistic, "What do you think you're doing there? You're trying to take that for yourself! Step back right now!"

As directed, Tony straightened and moved back, and the assailant approached suspiciously.

Looking around wildly, he kicked the leg of the surviving elderly man. "Check him over and don't try anything, old man!"

Fear evident in his face, the frightened man rose out of his seat shakily, which further enraged the criminal.

Tony held his breath, and when the murderer reached over and snatched the older man's arm, Tony spun swiftly, positioning himself behind the criminal. Before the man realized what Tony had accomplished with the maneuver, Tony had the man's head pinned in his arms, a knife pointed to the gunman's carotid artery and a fork poised above the man's jugular.

Tony tightened his arm until the man began to choke, then leaned over and snarled. "Now drop the gun, dirtbag!"

Without a fight he did, raising his arms and turning loose of the firearm. Tony kicked it out of the way towards the tables, then dragged the man backwards. The criminal scrambled frantically, trying to claw Tony's grip off of him as he attempted to stay upright at the same time. It proved a losing battle. He kicked out frantically, sending chairs and tables flying as Tony yanked him in the direction opposite the front doors.

The commotion brought the other assailant darting out to investigate. Seeing his buddy transformed from hostage taker to hostage, he cursed loudly, and disappeared again.

Moments later he reappeared with his own gun resting at the back of the manager's head, and one hand gripping her shoulder hard enough than she clenched her jaw in pain. She held the take out container of cash at arm's length in front of her.

A sudden, sickening silence permeated the air of the establishment.

Even the children appeared to be watching the showdown, frozen in silence.

Agent Dinozzo mentally processed the change as the manager's life teetered before him, the woman well aware of the probability of death. The white blouse and slacks she wore appeared to almost silhouette the criminal in black clutching her to him.

The man shifted his gaze towards his accomplice, then repositioned the gun, this time closer to the side of the woman's head.

Impasse-

The assailant took in the reality that the situation had changed so drastically that now his partner flailed and fought for his own survival.

Stalemate-

Tony barked out, "Let her go, or your man here will go out in a body bag!"

"I'll blow her away, Man!" was the screamed response.

"You know your way around this place," Tony commented. "Former employee, right?"

"Shut up!"

"I thought so. You look like the type of loser who would get fired from a restaurant."

"You need to shut up, Man!" came the shrill response. Tony had definitely found an Achilles tendon.

"No, what I think now is that you are the fired Yin, but what about the fired Yang?" Tony shifted slightly and pressed the fork in a little deeper.

"Shut up! You don't even make sense!" ground out the criminal, spit flying with the enraged words.

Tony directed his next comment to his own captive. "You seem smarter than Yin over there. What were you, Yang, his boss here at the restaurant?"

That infuriated the man, and he began screaming in earnest. "What do you know, fool? He was a cashier. You think that's higher than an assistant manager? You are one stupid…."

"Whatever," Tony cut him off. "You two tried to embezzle money and got caught, right? This is your payback to the powers that be. You screwed it up, though."

The former manager practically danced with anger, his body radiating with fury. "When are you going to shut up? Shut up now!"

A couple of seconds passed.

Tony stepped back again, shifting his captive and deliberately positioning them in front of a window.

He turned slightly and directed the restaurant customers. "All of you, now, make a barricade of those chairs- fast- then get flat down on the floor behind them."

Obeying without question, they moved quickly and responded as instructed.

Within twenty seconds they all lay on the tile together, clutching hands and praying.

The shotgun wielder shook the manager violently and screamed, enraged at the turn of events, "She's dead, now!"

Tony tightened his grip on his own prisoner's neck and the terrified man began gurgling and clawing to free himself.

The other murderer stood several feet across from him, shifting in agitation from one foot to the other, the terrified manager still positioned at the end of his shotgun.

Tony focused on the manager, then addressed the young woman, "Look at me, Honey. Keep your eyes right here, and look only at me."

She did.

The shots exploded in the confined space, fired in tandem, and Tony felt his prisoner sag against him. He witnessed the other one crumble to the floor, the manager desperately scrambling to maintain her balance as he did. Falling with him to the ground, she never took her eyes off the Agent.

Tony turned loose of the body in his arms and raced across the room to her.

She grabbed him in a hysterical embrace, and he knelt beside her.

They stayed on the floor the couple of seconds it took for Gibbs and the SWAT team to storm through, until he felt his boss grab him with both hands. "You hurt, Tony?"

Tony shook his head that he was not, so Gibbs turned him loose and hurried to the hostages, scanning their faces and calling in a hoarse voice for Abby.

A moment later Tony heard her respond, and he let out a relieved breath. He had kept her safe.

He untangled himself from the manager, murmuring comfortingly, and then pulled her up with him.

Then Tony joined Gibbs, offering assistance to the older partner.

In less than ten minutes ambulances had transported all of the hostages and victims to the hospital. Tony finished his account of the crime to the police and then once again joined Gibbs, who waited by his car with Ducky. The medical examiner had arrived before the final shoot out.

Gibbs had Abby secured against him and was rubbing her hair to calm her. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

They greeted Tony with relief, and Gibbs motioned him to his other side. He pulled Tony to him, as well, and brushed back his hair. Seeing that Jethro wanted Tony and Abby in his sights, Ducky assured them that they could skip the trip to the hospital and drive home instead, where he would follow and check them.

Gibbs kissed Abby's cheek, then ordered her to go with Ducky, promising that he and Tony would follow at once.

The older man did not speak again until Ducky and Abby left the parking lot. He turned and regarded Tony, sighing deeply and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Come here," Jethro ordered.

Tony protested, "I'm good, Boss, really. I didn't get shot. This blood isn't mine." He gestured to the soaked front of his shirt.

"I realize that, but it is not a debate. Come here." He motioned Tony to him and his senior agent complied, stopping in front of his boss and regarding him wearily.

Gibbs reached over and brushed back Tony's bangs. "I'm proud of you, Anthony."

Tony shook his head slightly in acknowledgement, and then caught off balance by the sudden flood of emotions that assailed him, bit the corner of his lip.

"You saved a room full of innocent people tonight," Jethro continued. "What's more, because you had Abby keep the line open, we could hear you identify them and I could follow what you planned to do."

Tony gained some emotional control and grinned sheepishly, "I knew the Calvary was coming, though, because Abby sent out the bat signal from her cell phone. You always appear when I need you. I just had to maneuver them into position to encourage some sniper fire from my boss. They deserved what they got."

"That they did," Gibbs assured him softly. "Those two had no intention of just pulling off a robbery tonight. They wanted to kill somebody and they did, two somebodies. Thank God you and Abby were not the two."

The men started walking towards the car then and Tony offered, "Hey, Boss, I named them Yin and Yang, 'cause they were polar opposites with a license to kill."

Gibbs couldn't help but smile and repeated, "You thought they were Yin and Yang."

They did not speak again until Jethro pulled the car into the driveway. Ducky and Abby stood framed in the doorway, and Tony jumped out hurriedly.

Abby raced to throw her arms around him, and Tony caught her and swung her off her feet. The two stood together a few moments savoring the realization that they had come out of the incident with their lives intact.

Gibbs finally interrupted, motioning towards the front door.

They moved inside, but Ducky waited for his friend. He patted him reassuringly on the arm. "Come now, Jethro, all is well now. The chicks are safely home."

Gibbs grinned, "Not chicks, Ducky, but my own Yin and Yang!"


End file.
